There have been a series of ruthless dictators, both past and present, that have horrified the world with shocking massacres and totalitarian oppression of their own people.

Normally, these guys lived the high life without a care in the world whilst their people were starving to death or killed by their own troops. We’ve selected a few of these disgusting human beings to provide an insight into some of their horrific dinnertime eccentricities… enjoy.

Kim Jong Il

EPA

Kim Jong Il was the supreme leader of North Korea from 1994 to 2011. Under his rule, North Korea’s grossly mismanaged economy sagged and its people suffered a famine.

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Partly, this was probably down to the fact he spent 800 times what an average North Korean would earn in a year. Wait, what? Imagine, you’re slaving your ass off and you see that happen, you’d probably rise up and at least demand a few bottles for yourself!

As well as his massive love of cognac, Kim Jong Il was also a big lover of shark-fin soup and dog-meat soup (nice and ethical, not), which he believed gave him immunity and virility.

He also apparently had a big team of women to make sure every single grain of rice that was served to him was identical in size, shape and colour. What a mentalist.

Adolf Hitler

Corbis

Hitler was the führer of Nazi Germany who forcefully occupied large chunks of Europe and North Africa during WWII. He fought to eliminate Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and others. He killed over six million in concentration camps across Europe, before he committed suicide in 1945.

It’s quite well known that Hitler was a Vegetarian, apparently because of ideological reasons, but he believed having a meatless diet would relieve his grim constipation. By the end of WWII, Hitler ate only mashed potatoes and clear broth.

As probably the most hated man in history, it’s understandable that he was very paranoid about being poisoned by his food that he employed 15 food tasters. Only if none of them had died after 45 minutes would he eat.

Idi Amin

General Idi Amin overthrew an elected government in a military coup and declared himself president of Uganda… as you do. He ruled with an iron fist for eight years, where it’s estimated he slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

When it came to his food, he was a big fan of serving a load of insects at his banquets including fried grasshoppers and crickets.

His favourite good was roast goat, Cassava and millet bread and he would eat an incredible 40 oranges a day, because he believed it was ‘nature’s viagra’… right. It earnt him the nickname Mr Jaffa- brilliant.

He also loved British food as he had served as an assistant cook in the British colonial army, loving his afternoon teas, fast food and pizza.

During his reign he was accused of eating his military rivals and famously replied like a fucking psychopath, saying, “I don’t like human flesh – it’s too salty for me.”

Pol Pot

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Pol Pot and his communist Khmer Rouge movement in Cambodia orchestrated a horrific, anti-intellectual “social engineering program” in which up to two million Cambodians were executed, overworked or starved to death.

So, what dod a nasty piece of work like him like to eat? Well, he was a fan of the rather finer things in life (like many ruthless dictators), with a real like for booze- brandy and Chinese wine in particular and game such as venison and wild boar.

Most bizarre of all his foodie favourites was cobra stew, apparently.

While he was enjoying a life of luxury, those suffering under his brutal regime were only allowed water with a sprinkle of rice grains. What a disgusting man.

Francisco Macías Nguema

He might not be one of the household names, as dictators go but this was one nasty bloke. Francisco Macías Nguema was the first president of Equitorial Guinea and it’s predicted that he killed and drove into exile between one-third to two-thirds of all his citizens.

The sadistic bastard in one instance even had 150 of his opponents killed by troops dressed as Santa Claus. During his reign, his country was given the nickname “the Dachau of Africa”.

When it came to his food, he was quite into stuff which had some form of drug in. He took a liking to a tea made from the leaves of the female cannabis plant, called bhang, and iboga- a root bark with hallucinogenic properties.

I guess he’d have to be pretty fucking high to commit the disgraceful atrocities he did without any feeling or remorse. There were even rumours he was a cannibal who collected skulls in his fridge. Terrifying.

Fidel Castro

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To his enemies he was a ruthless autocrat whose close links to the Soviet Union brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, but for Fidel Castro food and drink has long been a passion for the western world’s leading Communist.

He spunked away a lot of effort and money wasted on pet projects like setting up enterprises to produce French cheese, foie gras and whisky.

When it came to his own diet, his loyal comrade in the struggle against the western world and possibly one-time lover – Celia Sanchez – spoke of how Castro in his younger days was a big fan on soup made from an endangered species- the turtle. Grim.

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin led the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953. He forced quick industrialisation of his country, which also went hand-in-hand with mass starvation, labour camps and the “Great Purge”, which claimed 1% of their entire adult population.

When it came to his grub, Stalin had a great love of traditional Georgian cuisine, washed down with a shed load of wine.

While his people were starving and working themselves to death, he enjoyed power-play drinking games and very O.T.T. six-hour dinners prepared by his personal chefs, one of which was Vladimir Putin’s grandfather. Nice to see the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree…